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Woman gangraped, burnt alive inside temple premises in UP’s Sambhal

Husband of the victim said that the accused barged into their house when his wife and 14-year-old daughter were asleep.

Sambhal, Jul 15 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 7/16/2018 12:47:15 AM IST

A woman who was allegedly gang raped and killed in Sambhal near Moradabad was burnt alive according to the post-mortem report, Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Bareilly Zone, Prem Prakash said on Sunday while refuting the claims of the victim’s family that her calls to an emergency police number went unanswered.

“The woman died because of the burn injuries as per the post-mortem report which proves that she was burnt alive,” the ADG said. “The panel of doctors who conducted the post-mortem have secured vaginal swabs to determine rape,” he added.

Prakash visited the scene of the gruesome crime on Sunday and interacted with the family members of deceased. He also took stock of the investigation into the case which has sent shockwaves for its brutality.

“A total of three police teams with assistance from local intelligence units (LIU) and surveillance teams are on look out for the accused. I am personally monitoring the operation and the accused will be arrested soon,” the officer said.

The 35-year-old woman was allegedly raped and burned inside a temple premises early Saturday morning in Rajpura area of Sambhal district. Based on the complaint lodged by her husband who works as a labourer in Ghaziabad, local police have already registered and FIR against five people and charged them with rape and murder.

The accused are related to the family of the deceased, according to police. “All the five accused have been identified. They are reported to be absconding after the incident. Our teams are raiding their possible hideouts to arrest them,” said the ADG.

Police have also detained four people related to the accused and are interrogating them. The husband of the woman in his complaint had also alleged that he wife had called police on the Dial 100 service – the emergency police number - at the time of the incident but her call went unanswered.

The ADG refuted this claim. “We have examined the call record of the woman which doesn’t show any calls to the Dial 100 service. We have also cross checked it with Dial 100 headquarters in Lucknow,” Prakash said.

In his complaint, the husband said that the five men barged into his house when his wife and 14-year-old daughter were sleeping. He said he was in Ghaziabad and his son had gone to his aunt’s wife in a neighbouring village when the incident took place.

He said when the men left after raping her, his wife tried to call him over the phone but could not contact him. She also tried ‘Dial 100’ service for police assistance but her call remained unanswered.

She then called up her cousin and informed him about the incident.

“In the meantime, the men returned with kerosene oil and dragged her to the ‘yajnashala’ of a nearby temple where they set her afire,” he added.

He said on getting information about the incident, he reached the village in the morning.

“I found my daughter on a cot but my wife was missing. We rushed to the temple where I found the half-burnt body of my wife,” he informed the police.

A villager, who did not wish to be named, alleged that the accused men had been troubling the woman for the last few months as she used to stay alone with her children.